Departmental Public Expenditure

Mr. Scott:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on (a) economy class flights, (b) business class flights, (c) first class flights, (d) accommodation and (e) other expenses for (i) Ministers and (ii) officials to attend the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008. [264103]

Mr. Michael Foster:
The cost of one Minister and 10 officials attending the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008 was £50,072. This comprises:

£

Business class flights

44,484

Accommodation

3,035

Other expenses

2,553

Mr. Scott:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on (a) leasing, (b) procurement, (c) maintenance and (d) running costs of its cars in Uganda in the last financial year for which figures are available. [264104]

Mr. Ivan Lewis:
In 2007-08, the Department for International Development's (DFID) expenditure on its official vehicle fleet in Uganda was as follows:

£

Leasing

Nil

Procurement

19,692

Maintenance and running costs

14,641

Mr. Scott:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the (a) salary costs and (b) other employment costs of drivers engaged by his Department in Uganda were in the last financial year for which figures are available. [264105]

Mr. Ivan Lewis:
In 2007-08, the Department for International Development's (DFID) expenditure in Uganda for drivers was as follows:

£

Salary costs (including overtime)

26,000

Other employment costs

6,000

20 Mar 2009 : Column 1383W

Departmental Recruitment

Justine Greening:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2009, Official Report, column 1879W, on departmental recruitment, what estimate he has made of the annual salary cost of (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) agency staff recruited by his Department in each year since 2005-06. [264296]

Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not maintain central records of estimates made in respect of salary costs for newly recruited staff.

Each director within DFID has delegated authority to manage their staff resources, together with any associated pay and related costs.

Prior to the recruitment of any new member of staff (permanent, temporary or agency), the director is required to make an assessment of the cost of the appointment and to confirm they have sufficient funds available within their divisional budget.

Departmental Temporary Employment

Justine Greening:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Departments policy is on the renewal of the contracts of (a) temporary and (b) agency staff. [264297]

Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The Department for International Developments policy on the renewal of temporary (fixed term) or agency contracts is that neither may be renewed without clear justification. All contract renewals must be authorised at senior management level and approved by Human Resources Division.

GlobeScan Incorporated

Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the nature was of the services provided to his Department by GlobeScan Incorporated in respect of consultations on its research strategy for 2008 to 2013 procured under reference 200707940; if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) his Department's contract with GlobeScan Incorporated, (b) the commissioning document for the exercise and (c) the result of the consultation; and if he will make a statement. [263722]

Mr. Michael Foster:
GlobeScan Incorporated were contracted to undertake the Asia consultations which informed the DFID Research Strategy 2008-13. A copy of the Terms of Reference (commissioning document) will be placed in the Library. The contract is a commercial in confidence document. The results of the consultation are available on the DFID Research portal R4D:

Guyana: Rainforests

Mr. Roger Williams:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding the Government has provided to Guyana for rainforest conservation in each of the last three years; what funding will be provided in 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. [264073]

20 Mar 2009 : Column 1384W

Mr. Michael Foster:
In the past year (2008-09), DFID has committed £313,000 to work by Guyana on a low carbon investment prospectus and implementation plan, including a costing of conserving Guyanas rainforests. No funds were provided to Guyana for rainforest protection in the previous two years. No decisions have yet been taken on funding for rainforest protection in Guyana in 2009-10.

Guyana is also a participant in the World Banks Forest Carbon Partnership Fund (to which the UK has contributed £15 million) and recently submitted its Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation Readiness Plan. Guyana is included in the Caribbean Regional Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and may also be part of the Caribbean Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (part of the Climate Investment Funds to which the UK is contributing £250 million). DFID officials regularly discuss forest protection with their Guyanese counterparts.

Malaria

Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has allocated to research on malaria in each of the last five years; how much has been allocated for these purposes in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [263497]

Mr. Ivan Lewis:
For each of the last five years the Department for International Development (DFID)has allocated the following amounts for malaria-specific research:

£ million

2003-04

2.35

2004-05

1.8

2005-06

1.7

2006-07

5

2007-08

3

To date for 2008-09 £3 million has been allocated to research on malaria.

DFID also funds other programmes that include malaria research, but where it is not possible to disaggregate the amounts spent on malaria.

Malawi: Overseas Aid

Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the purpose was of the media training provided by the Reuters Foundation and funded by his Department in Malawi in October 2007; who received the training; and what the nature of the training was. [263789]

Mr. Ivan Lewis:
13 members of staff in the Department for International Developments (DFID) Malawi office received training on the 22 and 23 October 2007. The training was part of a wider programme designed to enable DFIDs staff to improve the delivery of programme support in Malawi. The workshops focused on how DFID, as the largest bilateral donor in Malawi, could better engage with the media to influence and advance development policy debate.

20 Mar 2009 : Column 1385W

Opin Systems

Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract between his Department and Opin Systems for a production Oracle database administrator procured by his Department under reference 200708132. [263788]

Mr. Michael Foster:
A redacted copy of the contract between DFID and Opin systems for an Oracle database administrator, will be placed in the Library. The redacted copy is the original version of the contract minus schedule 5, which contains pricing information that we regard as commercial in confidence information. All other sections of the contract have been provided without amendment.

20 Mar 2009 : Column 1386W

Overseas Aid

Mr. Gray:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much assistance his Department provided to (a) China, (b) Zimbabwe, (c) Pakistan and (d) Burma in each of the last 10 years. [264200]

Mr. Michael Foster:
Details on the UK's bilateral expenditure and imputed share of multilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) are contained in the DFID publication Statistics on International Development. This publication is available from the Library and online at www.dfid.gov.uk. Relevant figures are produced in the following table.